A couple of weeks ago as I was driving home there was a very sudden and almighty downpour. I found myself driving in a horrific storm. Raindrops the size of tennis balls were battering my windscreen, gloomy dark clouds were overhead and visibility was really poor as the rain pelted down ferociously, extremely hard, really fast and very, very heavy (this is no exaggeration – I stopped at one point and made notes!!!).

I glanced to my right. The sun was shining, the sky was bright white with sunbeams piercing through white clouds. In fact the sun was so bright it was even warming my cheek as I continued driving through the bleak storm.

I felt God remind me that even through the worst storm, even through the worst times in our lives He’s right there, He’s close to us, He’s on our shoulder, warming us, comforting us. He’s never far away.

I drove round a corner in the road and suddenly found the bright white sun in front of me lighting up the road before me with its brightness blotting out everything else around it. The rain eased off and the atmosphere completely shifted.

It was then that God said to me very simply, “Sometimes you need to adjust your perspective.” Sometimes the way we look at things needs tweaking, or we need to change, even slightly, the direction we are going. If we can’t see the sun (Son), we should change our perspective, our direction – and lo and behold there it is – there He is, in front of us, breaking through the darkness, showing us the way. Just like in the solar system it is the earth that revolves around the sun, the Son is the constant, faithful, ever-present one and if we can’t see Him in our circumstances, it isn’t because He has gone anywhere, it is us who need to make an adjustment.

It reminded me of something else God spoke to me recently when he took me on a walk near my office to an old windmill. In order to do the job it was designed for, the top of the windmill – the wooden tower known as the smock – can rotate so that the sails are moved to face the wind – the best position to capture the power of the wind. We need to make sure we are facing in the right direction so that the Holy Spirit can work in us and we can be effective in what we were designed for.

For me, I know that at the moment this means working on my prayer life and on ensuring I am spending my precious time most effectively. But I had the sense that the reminder that He is there in our darkest, most difficult times and the encouragement to line ourselves up with Him might be timely for others too. If so, I hope this blesses and encourages you. If not, I hope you are encouraged and blessed anyway!

I’m still asking God about this word as I’m not sure he’s completely finished so I may come back to this note in the future. But I wanted to share in its current state as I’ve been sitting on it for a while and felt I should stand up and be counted!